The most notorious place in Albania

Jose Pablo Baraybar

Jose Pablo Baraybar a Peruvian forensic expert and the former head of the UNMIK Forensics and Missing Persons Office visited the infamous “yellow house“ in 2004, where it is suspected that abducted Serbs had their organs harvested.

“There were clues that should have been followed up. Politicians should reply as to why it went no further. A Council of Europe investigation will be the best way to uncover what went on. But the problem could be what you find nine years on,“ Baraybar said in an interview for daily Novosti.

The former head of the UNMIK Forensics and Missing Persons Office said that the UN mission first received information on organ harvesting at the end of 2002 or early 2003 from eight witnesses, some of whom were from Prizren, and the others from Albania.

“Some claimed that they’d already been to the yellow house, others that they’d seen bodies being carried out of there and buried at a local cemetery. Some even said that they’d transported people to Albania. We didn’t speak to anyone that said they’d taken part in what allegedly happened in the yellow house, or had been, let’s say, kidnapped,“ he said.

Baraybar said that the first information had not come from the Hague Tribunal, as former Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte claimed in her book, but that the UN mission had in fact contacted the Tribunal.

The former UNMIK official said that on the basis of “precise information“, his team had found a yellow house, but that no proof had been found there—medicine vials and surgical containers had not been sufficient and were “unconvincing“. However, there had been enough information to continue the inquiry, which was what his team had expected.

According to Baraybar, there were a number of reasons why the investigation was suspended, including the fact that the investigation against Limaj and Haradinaj had got under way soon after.

“As soon as that happened, all the sources that could have taken us from the cemetery and shown us exactly where the bodies were buried vanished! Literally vanished! They began hiding and no longer wanted to speak with us. They ran away!“ he recalled.

4 thoughts on “Jose Pablo Baraybar”

The key question is to determine who in the UNMIK and the Hague Tribunal failed to do what the professional, or institutional protocol and procedures, or simply a logical call of an inquirying mind, would require to do when first indications and trails about organ harvesting appeared. And who failed to protect and preserve key witnesses. There has to be people with names who failed to do their job properly and they must be exposed.

The worst thing about these horrific crimes is to stir some dust after 10 years and then publically shrug shoulders and say “nothing we can do, samples that could prove things have been destroyed”. This would be a clear sign of the contempt of morality of the politicans in power from Western Europe to the U.S. and of beaurocratic hipocricy in institutions that profess certain virtues and principles in public, but act upon a totally different set of principles and interests.

I would like to ask Mr. Jose-Pablo Bayrabar has he done any research about missing Albanians that are buried all over Serbia. Also I would like to know does he know anything about the pending lawsuit against him by the Albanian family where over 40 members were killed during the war in Kosovo. As if this were not enough he also took part in a conspiracy to cover up evidence of all remains left unidentified.